LAKEWOOD, Colo. — The developer of a controversial apartment complex near Belmar Park is suing the City of Lakewood following the passage of a citizen-led ordinance.
Neighbors have been fighting to protect the park and its green space for more than a year. They claim the project would reach the sidewalk near the park and bring around 900 more people to the area, impacting the wildlife that calls the open space home.
For the past several months, Cathy Kentner has been speaking out to keep the open space as is.
"Because of the natural sanctuary that already exists and the overbuilding that is proposed here that would destroy that habitat," she said.
Under previous rules, a developer who did not want to dedicate some of the existing green space on their property to the City of Lakewood for parkland was required to pay a fee in lieu of the dedication. Those fees were then used for improvements to other parks and open spaces in Lakewood.
Kentner's organization, Save Open Space Lakewood, pushed through an ordinance that removed the option for developers to pay the fee-in-lieu. The Lakewood City Council approved that change in November.
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Kairoi Properties, LLC., the developer behind the 412-unit luxury apartment building planned for the area near the open space, has filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming the new ordinance is illegal.
"If they win the lawsuit, then they will be allowed to continue as if the people and their request to protect our environment and to have reasonable development — as if we never existed," Kentner said.
Kairo Properties claims the amount of land that would need to be dedicated under the ordinance is larger than the property itself. The company is asking a judge to stop the city from enforcing this new rule.
Read the full lawsuit below:
"It's possible to develop and not take away these natural spaces that everyone needs for their physical and mental well-being," Kentner said. "We are just begging our elected officials to sit down and come up with something that respects everybody, that actually brings everybody to the table."
Denver7 contacted the City of Lakewood for a statement but was told officials were unavailable due to the holiday. Denver7 also reached out to Kairoi Properties, LLC. but did not hear back as of the publication of this article.
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